It is common for a web site to store information on a client device. Cookies are one example of such client-side storage. Cookies retain information generated by a web site while the web site is being accessed by a user. An example of data that may be stored in a cookie is user account information, such as a user identifier and password, that may be used by a web site to automatically authenticate the user to the web site without requiring reentry by the user of their respective user identifier and password each time the user navigates to the web site.
Storing data on a client device provides several advantages to a web site. First, physical storage device requirements are decreased by storing data on the client device rather than on a central server maintained by a web site operator. Second, storing data on the client device allows additional processing to be performed by the client device rather than by the web site, improving the scalability of the web site. Accordingly, there is significant interest in utilizing client-side storage among web site developers. Additional client-side storage technologies, such as client-side database storage, are being introduced to help satisfy this interest.
Unfortunately, client-side storage can result in data being spread across multiple devices that may be used by a user to access a web site. For example, the user may access a web site from an internet-capable phone, such as an iPhone, when shopping, from a home computer when at home, and from a work computer when at work. Information stored in client-side storage will only be available to the device on which the information was stored. For example, items placed into a “wish list” by a user while accessing a web site from a work computer will not be available to the user when they later access the same web site from their home computer. Accordingly, what is needed is a mechanism for redirecting client-side operations to remote storage locations, so that data may be accessed by devices in addition to the client device to which the web site directed the data.